Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73724 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73724 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
I close my eyes, and when the image of Dad’s body jerking flits through my mind, they pop open again.
“No,” I whisper. “I saw them shoot Dad.”
I think it’s just Eleni and me who got out alive.
“And Mom?”
I shake my head.
If she was still in the kitchen when they attacked, they would’ve killed her first before spreading through the rest of the mansion.
Knowing we’re not safe out in the open, I start to get up, but pain tears through my body, making a cry escape my lips.
“Cassia!” Eleni quickly wraps her arm around my lower back. “We need to get to a hospital.”
I shake my head again. “We have to go to Uncle George’s place. That’s where our guards who survived the attack will go.”
I have to get Eleni to safety. Even if I die trying.
She digs her phone out of her pocket and says, “I’ll call him so he can come pick us up. You need urgent medical care.”
“You brought your phone,” I whisper while reaching for the device.
“Of course. You know I always have it on me,” she mutters.
For the first time since the attack, I feel a sliver of relief as I dial the emergency number for the island. When Evinka, Dominik’s second-in-charge, sent out the emergency contact details, I made sure to memorize them.
A man answers the call in a professional tone. “State your emergency.”
“It’s Cassia Dimtrou!”
“What can we do for you, Miss Dimitrou?”
“I need backup. Now!” I glance around us as I push Eleni away from the side of the road. “The bratva attacked us. It’s just me and my sister who made it out alive.”
“Give us your location so we can notify whoever’s closest to you.”
I quickly ramble off the address for my uncle’s house that’s here in Athens, my eyes constantly darting up and down the street.
“I’m ten minutes away from the location,” I think to mention.
“Share your real-time location with the emergency number so we can track you,” the man instructs. Before I can reply, he adds, “The other members have been notified. We’re waiting for their responses.”
“Okay.”
I gesture with my head for Eleni to start walking. “I’m going to end the call so I can share my location with you.”
“We’ll be in touch with you on the device you’re currently using. Notify us the instant your circumstances change.”
“Okay,” I say before hanging up. While I limp beside Eleni, I send my real-time location before glancing around us again.
“We’re too exposed,” I tell her.
“Call Uncle George,” she reminds me.
Just as I look at the screen of the phone again, it lights up with an incoming message.
Mr. Castro is currently one and a half hours from you. Lay low until he gets to you.
“One of the alliance members can be here in one and a half hours,” I relay the information to Eleni. “We just need to stay alive until then.”
“Great,” she whispers while wrapping her arms around her torso.
I dial Uncle George’s number, and while the line connects, I check our surroundings again.
It keeps ringing until I’m asked to leave a message. My desperation grows as I hang up and try once more. When it goes to voicemail again, I try Aunt Vasaliki’s number, but the call also goes unanswered.
Shit.
Aunt Vasaliki always answers her phone.
A chill creeps down my spine, and as desperation starts to course through my body, I dial the number for the head of security at my uncle’s house.
When that call also goes unanswered, a breath explodes from me, and I quickly dial the number for the island.
“Yes, Miss Dimitrou?”
“I think my uncle’s place was attacked as well. We’re out in the open.”
“Give me a minute to find a safe house for you.”
While I remain on hold, Eleni’s face crumbles and she wraps her arms around herself.
“It’s going to be okay,” I tell her, even though I know nothing will be okay for the unforeseeable future.
Jesus. The bratva killed Dad.
And Mom and Kiki.
My throat strains as unbearable sorrow mixes with the shock, and for a moment, I’m on the verge of breaking down, but then the man’s voice comes over the line again. “You need to go to the harbor. Mr. Castro has a contact who can keep you hidden until he arrives. It’s eighteen kilometers south-west of your current position.”
“Okay.”
We end the call, and I hold the phone out to Eleni. “Get us a cab. We need to get to the harbor.”
“Do you really think they attacked Uncle George and Aunt Vasaliki as well?” she asks with a trembling voice while she takes the device from me.
I can only nod, my mind racing too fast to think clearly.
I notice Eleni’s shaking severely while she orders us a cab, then I glance down at my bicep. The blood has stained the fabric of my long-sleeved shirt, and I’m leaving a trail behind us.